The League of Cityports
Maps III and VI. Population: 4.1 million. A kingdom in the northeastern Bandagora. Though nominally a kingdom, the merchant class is dominant. The king keeps state in Elsemore, and shares the power with three princes of Anistar, Chivenor and Skolister, respectively. In domestic affairs, the mayors of the six founding cityports (the above four in addition to Deselior and Oriester) also have a say in day-to-day matters. At least every five years, the wealthiest citizens assemble to decide the future of the realm. The League has a strong navy, and a well-trained, but small, army. The League is considered leading within skills like shipbuilding, weapon making, banking and paper manufacture. Anistar is the only place outside Kartria, where magical faculties of importance can be found. The League of Cityports was founded in 521 by Anistar, Chivenor, Deselior, Elsemore, Oriester and Skolister. At the time, these port cities were part of the Ditmar Union, but they wanted to expand the union to encompass coinage, toll laws and a unified naval chain of command. The concept was a mercantile union allowing trade to prosper. In 572 Taunenfels was founded as the League looked south to the Pandese Empire hoping to find a strong trading partner. But then the eternal nemesis of the League, the Iluvar, began to waken. During the Nomad Invasions the League lost all its coastal possessions except Taunenfels. Of the six founding cityports, only Elsemore remained on League hands. After the fall of Skolister in 614, the League had decided that a king would have a greater chance of leading the Chinloi forces, and instated a king. But at the time, it seemed without effect. Following the death of Ghorgis in 661, the Iluvar tribes slowly dissolved into fragments led by warlords. The Iluvar controlled cityports became more or less independent, but some were slow to rejoin the League, so the League did not recover its former strength in the north before 788. In the south, the area surrounding Taunenfels became a beachhead for the conquest of Itgosia where Sersch was founded. Later, Hest (710) and Ollyway (713) was captured from the Iluvar, and the area remained Chinloi until 909, when Nordacria seceded. Nordacria epitomized a growing problem of the League. The League was a merchant's union, its primary purpose was to facilitate trade, not to accommodate the growing part of the population making their livelihood from the land. In 915 a new constitution was adopted, and though it alleviated the problem, it did not solve it. In 1057 the settlers along the Donanda and the Inkavila proposed that the League be dissolved. The motion didn't carry, but the unrest wouldn't subside and finally in 1064 a civil war broke out. As none of the cityports wanted to conquer the other, but rather to outrival them, it was more a war of piracy than anything else. But after four years of the so-called Velvet War the League was split in four parts: The Blue Isles led by Elsemore, Chivenor along with Skolister, Oriester (and the somewhat smaller cityport Deselior), and Anistar. In 1095 the Iluvar devastated Oriester, and in 1103 Anistar joined the Blue Isles. Chivenor made peace with the other cityports in 1106, but Liëst wanted independence. At the reunion in 1106 the constitution was modified again giving the land gentry more influence. The king is Andorigas, and his queen Melinta is also princess of Anistar. The prince of Chivenor is Istragos and Skolister is ruled by Prince Sedjanos. ''Legal system.'' The League of Cityports have a dual political system, split into one concerning territories, especially regarding war and agriculture (the 'solid'), and one concerning trade and transport, including the cityports (the 'fluid'). The 'solid' system works as a traditional feudal system with hereditary nobles, and a king and three princes at the top. In the 'fluid' system each cityport is independent, the city councils are elected among the citizen who pay citizen's tax (5 sd/ year), and in each city the council elects a mayor having the highest authority. In addition each cityport has a viceroy elected by the local nobility, who must be heard in matters of state, but cannot veto decisions. Every other year all citizens and nobles owning more than five ships of a certain size meet to make long term decisions. A meeting is held in each of the four regions, and any new princes are elected here. If a citizen owns twelve ships or more, he could in principle participate in two (or more) of these assemblies. Every five years or if summoned by the king, a nation-wide assembly meets to discuss national laws and perhaps elect a new king. Daily decisions are made by (in decreasing rank) the king, the princes, the mayors, the viceroys, the noblemen, and the city council members. In the cities all non-residents who pay citizen's tax and permanent residents have certain rights. Such as the right to see a judge and be told any accusations. Unless the case is a misdemeanor, the accused has the right of an attorney, possibly assigned by the city. In important cases three judges preside. For each crime a range of punishments exist, but these ranges may differ from city to city. Outside the cities the nobility (the Court-Baron or the Court-Leet) acts as judges. There are ranges of punishment, but these are based on tradition. A person cannot lose his right in his home city, and a person cannot be owned by others. There is no true slavery, but a sort of adscription exists, as each person may only leave the shire with his lord's permission or by paying a fee for his freedom both to lord and to city he is to be a future resident of.